Fish out of Davis Cup Quarterfinal against France

ROQUEBRUNE-CAP-MARTIN, France - Mardy Fish had a minor health scare in the evening on Thursday, March 29 in Florida and visited physicians in Miami, who gave him orders to rest for a minimum of two or three days, which prevented him from traveling to Monte Carlo to play for the U.S. Davis Cup Team in its quarterfinal tie against France April 6-8.

Fish is staying in the U.S. to rest and is under medical observation. The diagnosis, however, is good and he is expected to make a full recovery.

Fish spoke with U.S. Davis Cup Captain Jim Courier the afternoon of Friday, March 30 to advise him of the situation and Courier and the entire team support Fish in his recovery. Courier then contacted Ryan Harrison, who confirmed Friday evening that he would travel to Monte Carlo and replace Fish on the U.S. team roster, which also includes world No. 11 John Isner and the world No. 1 doubles team of Bob and Mike Bryan.

The physicians attribute Fish’s health scare to extreme fatigue, caused by his very active playing schedule on the ATP Tour in 2012, as the current world No. 9 competed in Hopman Cup, Kooyong, the Australian Open, Davis Cup First Round, Marseille, Dubai, Indian Wells and Miami.

"I am extremely disappointed that I am physically unable to join the U.S. Davis Cup team in Monte Carlo for this week’s tie against France," Fish said in a statement. "I had a minor health scare in Miami last week and stayed in Florida to heed the doctor’s recommendation to rest for a few days. I hope to be able to resume my training later this week and possibly compete next week in Houston. I value every opportunity to compete in Davis Cup and wish I could be with my teammates this week."

It is possible he may return to practice later this week and return to competition next week in Houston.

"Mardy Fish is not with the team. He had a health scare in Miami the day after his match so the doctors advised him that he needed rest and not to travel so Mardy is going to be replaced by Ryan Harrison on our team," Courier said of his lineup change.

Harrison, the world No. 66, won his first career Davis Cup match in Switzerland in February over Michael Lammer in the U.S.'s 5-0 first round victory. It was a dead rubber but Courier thought it was an important match, which will only help Harrison against the French team, in his first career Davis Cup live matches.

"I think it is pretty important that Ryan was a part of the team and that he got on the court in Switzerland, even if it was for a match that was a dead rubber match," Courier said. "Those moments are still meaningful for him as a player and they are meaningful for us on the bench together because we have a better communication now as a result of having been through a match together and I hope it will help him when he is playing in his two matches here."

For the French Davis Cup Team, the world No. 14 player, Gael Monfils, has also withdrawn from play due to a abdominal injury and world No. 13 Gilles Simon will take his place and join world No. 6 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Michael Llodra and Julien Benneteau on the roster.

The U.S. Davis Cup Team begins its quarterfinal tie against France with two singles matches on April 6, the doubles rubber on April 7 and two singles matches on April 8 at the Monte Carlo Country Club. All matches will be streamed live and for free to U.S. residents on USTA.com and broadcast live on Tennis Channel.